Instructor Name: Dustin Cartwright
Office Hours: M 12:45–1:45, W 8–9, F 1:45–2:45 or by appointment, in Ayres 210
Email: cartwright@utk.edu
Course Webpage: All further information, including updates to this syllabus, will be on the Canvas webpage for this course.
Course Communications: Reminders and routine announcements will be made in class. I will use Canvas announcements for important messages, such as changes to assignments. I will only email you for urgent messages, such as class being canceled.
The best way for you to contact me is by email. I will reply on the same day to emails received before 3pm on a work day. For emails received after 3pm or on a weekend or holiday, I will reply by 10am on the next work day.
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to compute row echelon and reduced row echelon forms, inverses, determinants, dot products, bases for the fundamental spaces of matrices, eigenvalues, eigenvectors, and diagonalizations of matrices. Students should also be able to recognize abstract vector spaces and subspaces.
I expect you to attend every lecture, pay attention, and participate in class activities. During lectures, you should not use your laptop, cell phone, or any other electronic devices. Taking notes on a tablet is okay.
Elementary Linear Algebra: Applications Version by Anton, Rorres, Kaul, 12th edition.
This textbook, including WileyPlus, is provided to you through the Total Access program. If you opt out of Total Access, you will still need the textbook, but WileyPlus is optional.
Scale for letter grades: A 93–100, A- 90–92, B+ 86–89, B 82–85, B- 78–81, C+ 74–77, C 70–73. These cut-offs may be adjusted to be more generous at my discretion.
Homework: Homework is due by 7:00am each Wednesday morning. You will submit your homework on Canvas in PDF format. Assignments will be posted on Canvas at least a week in advance.
You must always show your work on all homework problems.
You must write your own homework solutions in your own words. You must give credit to any person or source who helped you understand the answer, including generative AI.
Homework will be graded based on completeness and effort.
The lowest homework grade will be dropped.
Weekly quizzes: On most Wednesdays, class will begin with a quiz, lasting about 10 minutes, covering material similar to the homework due the same day. The quizzes must be taken without any books, notes, or electronic devices.
Group work: Group work will be done in class, in collaboration with other students in class, possibly unannounced. You will be graded on effort.
Exams: The midterms and final must be taken without any books, notes, or electronic devices. The second and third midterms will cover material since the previous midterm. The final will be cumulative.
Late homework will receive up to 70% credit, but only if received within 24 hours of the due date.
Missed quizzes and exams will be excused only in circumstances which unavoidably prevent you from taking the exam, such as a medical or family emergency. Excuses will need to be documented, usually through Student Life Division. Accommodation is at my discretion.
Missed quizzes will generally be removed from the grade computation and missed midterms might have a make-up or might be replaced by your final exam grade.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you will miss a quiz or exam.
Every day: Come to class. Do the homework. Look at the book, either before or after class. Look over your own notes. Start the homework early. Work on the problems yourself before getting help.
Quizzes and exams: Look over your quizzes and exams after they’ve been graded. Look at the solutions. Use them to understand what you did wrong. This is how you find out what you’ve been doing wrong and improve your work.
If things go badly: If you are struggling, it is important to get help sooner rather than later:
We will cover the main topics in Chapters 1–5 of the textbook. The approximate schedule of daily topics is listed on the Canvas page “Daily schedule.”
If the instructor finds it necessary to make informational changes (e.g. office hours, schedule adjustments) due to students’ needs or unforeseen circumstances, students will be notified in writing/email of any such changes.